Phish Reimagines 1994 With Epic ‘Tweezerfest,’ Bustouts & ‘Hoist’ Highlights At Madison Square Garden

There’s no venue that Phish plays quite like Madison Square Garden. As the band barrels toward its 100th show at the World’s Most Famous Arena, each performance seems to add another chapter to an already legendary history. Over the past 32 years, countless iconic moments have unfolded inside the building, making every return feel significant. This five-night run, celebrating the band’s rise through the 1990s one year at a time, only heightens that sense of occasion.

Summer has always been an especially enjoyable time to catch Phish in New York City, and this run quickly became a must-see. While I skipped opening night to visit family and streamed the 1992-themed show from Albany, I arrived at Madison Square Garden in time for the excellent 1993 performance. It was immediately clear that the concept was building from night to night, making Saturday’s celebration of 1994 one of the most anticipated shows of the run.

The assignment from JamBase couldn’t have been more fitting. Not only was 1994 the year of my first Phish show, it was also the year the band debuted at Madison Square Garden. That personal connection made this particular installment especially meaningful, but the night had plenty to offer every fan eager to revisit one of Phish’s defining eras.

Running a little later than planned, I was still making my way to my seat as the opening notes of The Beatles’ “Back In The USSR” rang out. A White Album selection felt like a natural nod to 1994, when Phish famously performed the record in full at Glens Falls Civic Center on October 31, 1994. A recording of Ed Sullivan introducing the Beatles for their U.S. television debut in 1964 was played over the PA before “Back In The USSR,” just as it was at my second Phish show on Halloween 1994. The high-energy opener immediately ignited the Garden and erased any doubt that the band was ready to fully embrace the spirit of the year.

Guitarist Trey Anastasio continued his nods to his early wardrobe this night by donning a Pepe LePew t-shirt like the one he wore often during this period. For 1994, bassist Mike Gordon got in on the clothing game as well by wearing a black shirt and shorts with neon accents that he wore back then as well. These little details are joyous for fans in the know, and it’ll be exciting to see what ’90s gear they wear over the next two shows ahead.

“Simple” arrived surprisingly early in the second slot and quickly stretched to the 20-minute mark, immediately signaling that the band wasn’t simply recreating a 1994 setlist. The expansive jam balanced patient exploration with the song’s familiar celebratory feel, setting the tone for the rest of the evening.I’d expected the “Rift” that followed on the 1993 night as a nod to the release of that album that year, but it was great and fitting to hear this night, anyway, too.

“Punch You in the Eye” has become less common in recent years, with only 16 of the 173 versions from Phish history played post-pandemic, making its appearance especially welcome. Rather than racing to the vocals, Phish lingered over an extended introduction that built anticipation before exploding into one of the night’s most energetic performances.

“Punch” has historically clocked in at about six to eight minutes in length, but the last several have been 11 minutes or longer. This may not seem like a dramatic difference, but the longer, jammy lead-in before the lyrics, like in the one last night, is an excellent build-up to a really fun, super danceable tune that many fans love.

“Wolfman’s Brother” marked the first of five selections from Hoist, Phish’s fifth studio album, which was released on March 29, 1994. Reinforcing the night’s focus on 1994, the song’s groove seemed poised to launch another extended jam before an unexpected technical issue changed the course of the evening.

Things got weird and confusing for all in attendance, including, perhaps, the band, a few minutes into the “Wolfman’s” jam. The sound suddenly dropped out entirely. Jon Fishman continued playing drums, which we could hear in the venue and it was nice to get a little drum solo — although they were not audible at all on the stream when I revisited it post-show — and Trey took off his guitar and adjusted his in-ear monitor. He briefly picked up his guitar again at one point, before taking it off again. He talked to Mike for a second, and then Page, and tried to speak into the mic.

Nothing.

Fishman eventually stopped playing too, and a moment or two later, the band left the stage. The house lights came up, and suddenly, it was set break at 8:51 p.m. – far earlier than usual.

The abrupt ending to the set left the Garden buzzing with confusion.

The likely story is exactly what it seems — the sound went out. They went off and started the setbreak early so the problem could be remedied. No big deal. Things happen. This has happened several times before in Phish history.

However, the fact that Phish is known for clowning and gags left some fans wondering if this was perhaps an intentional nod to the June 21, 1994 Cincinnati show during which a fire alarm went off during “The Horse” – which was coincidentally also the fifth song of that show’s first set – causing the venue to be evacuated for safety reasons. When the show resumed that time, Trey told the audience at the Cincinnati Music Hall, “We’re just going to play straight through. That was the break!” before opening set two with Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire.”

Whether it was a genuine malfunction or an elaborate callback to one of Phish’s famous mid-show interruptions immediately became the question circulating throughout the arena.

Set two, then, began early after a normal-length set break. We were in for a long second set, and that was an intriguing prospect. “Highway to Hell” was a very exciting set two opener indeed and was a bustout, not having been played since 2009 at SPAC, 659 shows ago. The crowd went wild for the AC/DC cover, and it was a first-time-heard for many in attendance.

“Down With Disease,” a cornerstone of Hoist since debuting on New Year’s Eve 1993, felt inevitable on a night celebrating 1994. Its relatively concise 13-minute excursion proved to be a setup rather than a destination, giving way to the centerpiece of the evening: “Tweezer.”

Anyone who knows Phish well and was making predictions about the setlist for this 1994-themed show knew the “Tweezer” would likely happen tonight. There were lots of great “Tweezers” in 1995 also, but one of the most famous and well-known shows of 1994 was the band’s only visit to Dallas’ The Bomb Factory on May 7th of that year. That show is known as the very first “Tweezerfest” show, although there have been several others in more recent years, including one on July 21, 2014 at Merriweather Post Pavilion, one on July 19, 2022 at The Mann, and most recently, the now-infamous “Tweezer Reprise Fest” at the SPAC Summer Tour 2025 closer just last year. A “Tweezerfest,” for readers wondering what that term could possibly mean, is a set (or show) in which the band goes in and out of “Tweezer” multiple times, with other songs sprinkled in between its recurrences. This was the perfect night for one, and the longer-than-usual second set made it easy to accomplish in a very impressive way.

In past “Tweezerfests,” when the band returned to “Tweezer” each time, they generally just brought back the extremely recognizable, composed intro of the song, or a little Type I jam, for a few minutes before leading into another song. This one was different though, in that each return included a hint of “Tweezer” to start — so we could all mark a reentry into “Tweezer” on our mental setlists each time — but then each one morphed into an entirely different, interesting and cohesive, mini-Type II jam of its own. This was a beautiful way to tackle this project, and it worked incredibly well throughout.

The first portion of “Tweezer” ran a bit over 17 minutes, and it would have been plenty on its own, but anyone cognizant of the night’s 1994 theme knew it would return again and again throughout the rest of second set to come. “Down with Disease” returned for under two minutes to bring the song to its conclusion, then “Tweezer” was back for four more. “Sample in a Jar” came next in an unusual mid-second-set placement, but as another nod to Hoist, followed by another four minutes of “Tweezer.”

A seamless transition into the rarely played “Lifeboy” provided one of the night’s emotional peaks. Even in a building buzzing amid the sprawling “Tweezerfest,” the quiet ballad commanded complete attention, silencing even the usual crowd chatter.

There was no “Tweezer” segment as the band jumped into “Julius,” the fifth and final Hoist track of the night. Where the song lies in a setlist is crucial and the placement of “Julius” on 1994 Night was perfect. Then, “Tweezer” returned yet again for two more minutes, into a rare but nearly always too-brief “Catapult” — a bustout most recently played at Dick’s in 2021 — before giving way to another vastly different “Tweezer” jam segment.

“Cavern,” another staple of Phish’s early years, further deepened the night’s nostalgic feel. Rather than serving as a brief singalong, the band extended the song with an adventurous post-song jam that transformed it into one of the set’s more memorable surprises.

One final “Tweezer” segment rounded out the “Tweezerfest” here, and it was a wonderful closer to the madness. The jam here was 11 minutes in length, and went some very interesting and bluesy places that kept the whole house grooving along. “The Squirming Coil” was an appropriate closer to the set overall, as it was played twenty-six times in 1994, and as a set closer fifteen of those times. As tradition goes, Mike, Trey and Fishman left the stage towards the end of “Coil” to allow Page to finish out with a beautiful piano solo. As the notes faded off into the night and McConnell rose to leave the stage alone, the roar of the crowd signaled much love for both Page and Phish.

The encore could have gone in any number of directions, but “Purple Rain” was a fitting choice for the night’s 1994 theme. While it appeared more frequently in 1993, the Prince classic was also a regular Fishman showcase in 1994 and was performed at Phish’s first Madison Square Garden show that December. Fishman once again fully embraced the moment, delivering a spirited vocal performance before breaking out the vacuum cleaner for another delightfully Phishy encore. The song hadn’t been played since Jones Beach in 2012, ending a 535-show absence.

When Trey returned to guitar to finish “Purple Rain,” the Garden erupted. Wearing a glittering guitar strap, he ripped through the iconic solo with arena-sized confidence, capping one of the night’s biggest crowd-pleasing moments before the band gathered for the finale. As expected, “Tweezer Reprise” provided the perfect exclamation point.

Between the wardrobe callbacks, Hoist selections, surprise bustouts, technical intrigue and an inventive modern take on the classic “Tweezerfest,” Phish celebrated 1994 without treating it like a museum piece. The band revisited one of its defining years while continuing to push its music forward, delivering another unforgettable Madison Square Garden performance and raising anticipation even higher for the final two nights of the retrospective.

The quartet turns its attention to 1995 when the “Phish In Five” run continues at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Monday, July 27. Livestreams of Phish Summer Tour 2026 shows are available with a LivePhish With subscription.

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